Shiite rebels freed more than 300 prisoners in the southern city of Dhale, Yemeni security officials said, as the rebels fought pitched battles with supporters of the country's beleaguered President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in the southern port city of Aden.
The Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, have been trying to take control of Dhale in order to open up a corridor to Aden, a stronghold for Hadi loyalists.
Since their advance began last year, the Houthis have overrun Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and several provinces, forcing Hadi to flee the country.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists, said that after the Houthi fighters took control of Dhale's central prison, they gave inmates a choice between joining their ranks or remaining incarcerated.
A Saudi-led coalition continued to carry out intensive airstrikes overnight and early Saturday morning targeting Houthi positions in north and east Aden. The airstrikes continued in the Houthi stronghold of Saada in the north of the country.
As night fell, the airstrikes rocked northern Sanaa, Yemen's capital, prompting dozens of families to flee their homes.
The rebel-controlled Ministry of Interior said 11 people were killed, including four children, when a coalition airstrike hit the village of Hajer, west of Sanaa.
In Aden, pro-Hadi militias are facing off against a combined force of Houthi fighters aligned with forces loyal to Hadi's predecessor ousted autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh. Eyewitnesses said rebel snipers are shooting at their adversaries from the city's rooftops.
Coalition planes airdropped weapons to fighters battling the Houthis in Aden early Friday, the first such airdrop since the strikes began 10 days ago.
Medical officials said six civilians were killed Saturday during fighting at the entrance of al-Ma'ala, a town on the outskirts of Aden.
Critics of the Houthis charge that they are an Iranian proxy. Iran has provided aid to the rebels, but both Tehran and the Houthis deny it has armed them.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi met with his country's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to discuss Egypt's role in the Saudi-led Yemen campaign.
"Egypt will never abandon her brothers in the Gulf," he said in remarks following the meeting and carried on state and private television channels.
El-Sissi added that he and his Gulf allies considered the Bab el-Mandeb strait an issue of national security.
